While this subject is in the general discussion forum, I wanted to post somewhat the same thing here for the Krav and SD system folks to discuss.

Our response to armed attack is viewed as brutal by other MA forms. Any of you who have learned the handgun disarms and knife disarms know that there is the potential that you could kill your attacker..one too many barrel strikes to the face because the dork keeps trying to grab you...or as you duck under his arm with your escape from knife to the throat from the back...the knife ends up in his kidney.....a couple of dozen times...

I am of the mind that an armed attack on me under any circumstance is attempted murder...and I will respond with maximum force and bruality...redirect, control and destroy..then escape. I don't have a couple of seconds to play 50 questions with my attacker to determine if he just wants my cash or if he wants to add to his kill list for gang status.

What is the general consensus between us Kravists and SD folks?

Jeff Jimmo made a comment once during a seminar he was teaching on some Krav tactics and dirty fighting...it PO's some traditional MA folks off..but I found it profound..

"There is what looks cool in the dojo...and then there is what will keep you alive on the streets"

Those folks who do not train in Krav or like SD may not understand what I am saying, or may take offense...Please understand that I am not intending to do that... You almost have to be training in Krav or like system to understand the mindset...

Opinions?

_________________________"If you're gonna be stupid, you better be tough."

When I started Martial Arts in TKD, my second instructor seem to focus on the "what works in the street" side of things. We were working the lead side kick to the knee and you always went for the throat if it were available. In my opinion, if you land a solid side kick to a weight bearing knee and a ridgehand to the throat in your combinations, somebody's going to get to know the emergency room. At the time I was looking for other "friendlier" options so I started aikido. In aikido when we learned knife defenses, we were taught "never touch the knife and leave it in (I mean with) the attacker".

Now that I've got some Krav experience I think the Krav mentality and training method may be what differentiates it as a more aggressive response.

Looking at type of attack versus response level, I personally believe that once a weapon comes out things change. Some knucklehead taking a swing at me because he's drunk, showing off or thinks I "looked at him or his girl" is one thing. But taking out a knife means you're trying to kill me and I take offense to that.

Of the various instructors that I've worked with, I think most share a more pragmatic view, regardless of their art.

I think this has been one of the toughest things for me to re-train my people in. As LE, they were taught never to strike people in certain areas, i.e., don't strike to the throat, groin, kidneys, etc. It's reinforced in impact weapons training and arrest control and compliance.

Then here I come along and start saying, "Look, there's only one reason why someone would want to choke you and that's to kill you. If they pull a knife on you or they pull a gun on you, you can reasonably assume that their intentions are not to ask you out to the prom so when you attack, you attack aggressively, decisively and repeatedly and you make sure that pr*ck doesn't get back up so that he can attack you again." This was a shock to them and required a paradigm shift in their thinking. Some of them still consider it too agressive as if kicking someone in the groin is more violent then shooting them which is the level of force that they would be at in those situations listed.

I think the attacks KM deploys are appropriate for the force being used against us. They rely less on fine motor skills then traditional MA techniques so they look more crude and more brutal but they are also effective.

I have said this several times - I am the most peaceful person in the world - there is nothing that would get me to use violence that didn't involve a direct, imidiate and life threatening level of force, as far as I am concerned.

that being the case, I will not get involved in any use of force that is below the maximum level. I am a fat old man. I have no intention of trying to convince somebody that he will get hurt if he attacks me. If I get involved in a conflict I will be attacking eyes, throat, knees, kidneys, base of spine, and testicles, and I will be putting every ounce of my force and meaness behind it. one of us will be visiting the hospital or the morgue. I also have no intention of stopping until I feel that I have the threat completly under control. I was brought up with the idea of "kill verification" - we used to tap downed enemies with a few rounds to the head, before we let them get behind us. I am not going to walk away if I think somebody might be getting up and following me in a second, and catch at a possible disadvantage.

Quote:Jeff Jimmo made a comment once during a seminar he was teaching on some Krav tactics and dirty fighting...it PO's some traditional MA folks off..but I found it profound..

"There is what looks cool in the dojo...and then there is what will keep you alive on the streets"

This exact quote is what made me choose Krav.

My daughters are currently in Karate. I've had the opportunity to watch them progress, and though I admire the art, I started to realize that it would take them a long, long time before they could effectively apply what they've learned in a real life self defense situation.

I chose Krav because I needed something practical (our instructor says with the first class, you "hit the ground running"). The girls are still in Karate, but the minute they're old enough, I'll switch them to Krav as well.

I'll back all this up by simply saying I like my brains and I intend to keep them and all my other organs inside my body. My life is precious to me and to a significant amount of other people and I don't believe that anyone would want to take it for anything other than malicious reasons. The world and the people in are not "kill or be killed" by default, but there are killers out there and there are a lot of crazy a$$h013s who would just as soon rip your face off as look at you and they don't deserve the pleasure.

If someone's pulling a gun on me I'm going to make sure they either end up no longer able to do that to anyone else or seriously enough hurt that they won't be doing that for a long while. If they pull out a gun the usually intend to kill you. If that's the case I'll make sure it's them not me.

_________________________
"Evil is Powerless if the good are unafraid."- Ronald Reagan

Not sure about where you guys live but over here, it is perfectly legal to disarm an attacker and smack him around a bit (so to speak). It is *not* legal to take the attacker's weapon and stab or shoot him.

I trained in Chinese and American Kenpo Karate for several years when I was a teenager. Now that I'm a little older and training in Krav Maga I still see the same basic mindset that was instilled in me in my teen years. If someone attacks me on the street, I defend myself and I respond with everything I have.

You can never know your attacker. You won't know if they are on drugs (PCP), if they are psycho, if they are a serial killer etc.

All you need to say if someone asks is that you're not sure what happened, but you were so scared and everything will be fine.

Being attacked on the street is not a mutually consenting action between two individuals as in sport fighting. It's one individual minding their own business being attacked by someone else.

If someone thinks the response is brutal, they are perfectly welcome to step in and take the place of the person who got attacked.